As the Braves always do, they waited until the last minute to drop their NLDS roster, but at least it came with plenty of surprises.
Your 2021 Atlanta #Braves NLDS Roster:#BattleATL pic.twitter.com/bvYt87KgLx
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 8, 2021
The first thing that caught my eye is that both Richard Rodriguez AND Chris Martin were left off the roster. If you had told be that back at the trade deadline, I would have looked at you like you were crazy, but it is understandable. Martin hasn’t been reliable all season, and Rodriguez — ERA aside — has been dreadful since the Braves traded for him. All he has is a mid-90s fastball, and that’s just not going to cut it, especially in the postseason.
I was a little disappointed Spencer Strider didn’t make it. I thought his high-90s fastball paired with a wicked slider could be an X-factor for this team, but apparently the Braves didn’t see enough from him against the Mets to put him on the roster. However, they saw something from Dylan Lee. The southpaw was having a career year in Gwinnett, posting a 1.54 ERA over 46.2 innings, and finally received the call late in the season. Lee made two appearances with the Braves, and they weren’t great, allowing two runs in two innings. However, it looks like the Braves are putting more trust into his body of work with the Stripers rather than judging him off of his minuscule MLB sample size.
Lastly, the Braves decided to carry Terrance Gore as their sixth outfielder. Unless it is an emergency, Gore will never receive an at-bat. He was added to the roster purely for speed and defensive purposes. You can expect him to be used as a pinch runner at some point in this series.
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